The Fix

A secret plan was underway to rescue Intel, restore a god-given right of the US and make a little money on the side.

In the absence of transparency, conspiracy theories thrive. Here is my latest.

A week after the president said Tan should leave, and Intel’s stock tanked, the fix was in.

People in the White House took large stakes in Intel, knowing the boss would meet Tan a day later and change his mind on the company. The stock soared, and high fives went around the White House.

But that was just the beginning. A few days later, "anonymous sources" in the White House leaked out to a few influential media outlets that the USG was considering an equity stake in Intel. The stock soared further.

Then came the clincher: the 15% that the White House was skimming from the sales of Nvidia and AMD to China would be used to finance the USG stake in Intel. Not surprisingly, Nvidia and AMD switched some orders to Intel Foundry away from TSMC.

Broadcom, Qualcomm and a host of others got on board. Yes, they gladly gave 15% of their China sales to the USG in return for tax exemptions. They also placed new orders with Intel Foundry.

The administration was victorious on multiple fronts: Intel became a promising national chip champion just like TSMC in Taiwan, SMIC in China and Samsung in South Korea. America was restoring its god-given right to make the world's most advanced chips. America invented ‘em, after all.

There was at last a second source to TSMC for advanced AI chips. Nvidia, AMD and the lot had more bargaining power.

Furthermore, there was no need for the CHIPS Act subsidies. The industry was financing itself. No one cared about baksheesh because the strategy was paying off, big time.